May 16, 2012 Program for Cooperative Cataloging at Library of Congress Launches RDA Cataloger Training

The Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) Secretariat staffed by the Library of Congress has launched a free, comprehensive and authoritative web-based training series for catalogers making the transition to the new Resource Description and Access (RDA) protocol.

“RDA for NACO Catalogers” on the Library’s Cataloger’s Learning Workshop website is a self-paced, interactive series of training modules designed for Name Authorities Cooperative Program (NACO) authorities catalogers. The series, now available at www.loc.gov/catworkshop/courses/rda_naco/, will also be available through the Library’s iTunesU channel.

The modules, developed by the PCC Secretariat with assistance of PCC members and Library of Congress multimedia staff, includes videos, demonstrations, quizzes and exercises, and live “real-time” webinars that will be facilitated by PCC RDA catalogers.

“The robust RDA for NACO Catalogers program prepared by the PCC Secretariat allows our external cataloging partners to receive first-rate instruction at their own pace and in their own place,” Beacher Wiggins, director for Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access at the Library of Congress, said. “With rising travel costs, the multi-pronged online approach to training is the wave of the future for the PCC, and I am delighted with this offering.”

According to Linda Barnhart, head of the Metadata Services Department at the University of California, San Diego Libraries and current PCC Policy Committee chair, “RDA for NACO Catalogers has been eagerly anticipated and will be a tremendous help to NACO catalogers everywhere. This creative and accessible training program is a major step forward in RDA implementation, and supports the PCC goal of consistent, reliable and quality records. We are grateful to the PCC Secretariat for its innovative thinking and expertise in authority work in developing this multifaceted training effort.”

The Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) is an international cooperative effort aimed at expanding access to library collections by providing useful, timely and cost-effective cataloging that meets mutually-accepted standards of libraries around the world. For more information, visit www.loc.gov/aba/pcc/.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and the world’s largest library. It seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding by providing access to its incomparably rich and multi-faceted collections, many of which are freely available on its website at www.loc.gov.